The Fallout

by Knox, J. C.

  ‘Hey George, I meant to say earlier but the fuel tank is almost half, do you think we’ll have enough to get to land?’

  ‘I have a tank and a half on board, I think we should top up now while we’re stopped,’ George calls annoyed at having to lower the anchor again.

  Walking out onto the deck he pulls a tarpaulin up revealing a barrel containing extra fuel, George made sure to place the two barrels central when loading and fills a portable metal jerry can. Using a seat pulley system, he lowers Connor with the portable container and hose down to the fuel cap. The rough waves are making it difficult for Conner to stay steady. George is worried that they are going to lose the container and fuel, but using a rope attached to the side Conner manages to steady himself. He gets the fuel cap off easily and tips the container until it’s empty. He gives George a thumbs up and they begin pulling him back up.

  ‘Thank fuck!’ Connor said, as they pull him back over the side. ‘That was fucking scary, someone else can do that next time.’

  ‘Cheers mate,’ Seamus said, slapping his friend across the back.

  George is grateful when they finally set off again, this time Seamus is on the lookout post, Connor doesn’t like steering and offered to move ice again leaving George to steer the boat unable to see what he is ploughing into. After half an hour of pushing forward George spots Seamus coming down the pole and slows the boat. ‘What’s up?’ he said when Seamus enters the cabin stamping his feet, rubbing and blowing into his hands.

  ‘It’s wall to wall ice up ahead, we won’t get through.’

  ‘We’ll have to send a mayday call then, we have no other choice, I’m not happy about it either,’ George said.

  Realising they have no other choice the two men work together to get Connor back on deck and explain the plan.

  ‘It was getting thick down there.’

  Lifting the flare gun George turns towards Iceland and fires one shot into the air.

  ‘What if no one comes?’ Connor asks, looking at his friends, neither of which have an answer.

  The three men sit on the deck, George explains that he brought extra ration packs and they have a weeks’ worth of supplies left not including what the other two brought on.

  ‘I have an inflatable dinghy but I’m not sure it would take us through the ice.’

  There’s a noise, George isn’t sure what it is, but he knows it’s not his boat. He stands up and looks through the binoculars, spotting something heading in their direction. ‘Someone’s coming,’ he said.

  ‘We have to be on our guard, we don’t know if they wish us harm, or if they will help us.’

  The three men watch the ship as it ploughs easily through the thick ice, it takes a good half an hour before it’s close enough for them to speak to the men on board.

  ‘Did you see our mayday call?’ George asks.

  ‘Yes, we’re here to bring you in, just sit tight and we’ll hitch you up and toe you in,’ the man said, in broken English.

  ‘Well, at least we’re going in,’ Seamus said.

  It doesn’t take the men long before Georges boat is secured, and they’re being towed to the mainland. As they pull into the docks George is pleased to see it looks as if life is carrying on as normal here, he spots a sign saying Borg and wonders if that is the name of the town. There are many people walking around, working, he can see officials and wonders if Seamus and Connor have any documents with them. The ice breaker ship secures Georges boat and the three men get off, thanking the men. They’re taken through to customs where they are asked for passports, George has his but neither Seamus nor Conner have any forms of identity. The police officer leaves them to talk to his superior.

  ‘Fuck, I didn’t think anyone would be here,’ Seamus said

  ‘Me neither,’

  ‘I always bring ID with me, I even brought it when I came to your place,’ George said.

  ‘What do you think will happen?’ Seamus asks, but before George can answer, the door opens, and the officer returns with his superior.

  ‘George Thompson?’ the new man calls, looking at each of them, George raises his hand

  ‘That’s me.’

  ‘Your passport,’ the man said, handing it back to George. ‘I am Magnus Jonsson and I’m the mayor of Borg. Your passport said, United Kingdom, is that where you’re from?’

  ‘Yes, I was born in Northern Ireland,’ George said.

  ‘And these men, who are they and where are they from?’ he directs the question to George.

  ‘Seamus and Connor, I don’t know their surnames, they are Irish,’ George said, looking at Seamus who is nodding.

  ‘Okay, you know what has happened? We didn’t know there were any survivors in the UK or Ireland,’ Magnus said.

  ‘We have a community,’ Seamus starts to tell Magnus.

  ‘Not you, I don’t know who you are?’ Magnus said, turning back to face George ‘You tell me.’

  ‘There’s me and my wife, we’re on our island just off the west coast of Ireland, and there’s Seamus and Connor here, and some more of their community, I don’t know how many are left there,’ George said, shrugging his shoulders.

  ‘And what are you doing here?’

  ‘We were hoping to find somewhere that hadn’t been affected by the radiation,’ George said.

  ‘You want to settle here?’

  ‘Even for a short while, if that would be okay?’

  ‘Borg is a small town we have less than 100 permanent residents. What can you offer us?’

  ‘I’m an engineer, I specialise in renewable energies, Connor is a carpenter and Seamus a farmer. We don’t want to be a burden, we will work,’ George said.

  ‘Egill, get these men something to eat and somewhere to stay the night,’ Magnus tells the waiting officer.

  ‘I assume you will need help to return to your families to bring them here?’

  ‘Yes please, I am happy to work to repay your kindness’ George said looking at Seamus and Connor to see if they agree.

  ‘We’ll worry about that later, for now let’s get you settled, we’ve lost some of our community who went out to see what we could do, but they never returned, we believe radiation has got them. Their homes are just lying there, someone should use them, we also have those occupational positions available, one was a police officer, and the others worked in the hydro-power industry.’

  Egill returns, letting them know that their accommodation is ready. George, Seamus, Connor and Magnus follow Egill out to the waiting minibus. The ground is wet where the snow is melting, People are walking around doing their shopping, someone has fallen out of the pub drunk, it’s a welcome sight these people are not just surviving they are living. They’re only in the minibus for five minutes when Egill stops and gets out.

  ‘We’re here,’ Magnus said.

  The men follow Magnus and Egill as they show them the three properties next door to each other where they can stay. Standing in the larger property that will be Seamus’s. George, Seamus and Connor thank the two men and arrange to meet them first thing.

  ‘Get some rest, I’m sure you’re all exhausted, we’ll catch up in the morning. The red car there, belonged to Olafur I’m sure the keys are in the house somewhere, if you find them you can use it,’ Magnus said.

  When the men have gone George turns to Seamus and Connor, he can’t help the grin that’s spread across his face.’

  ‘Hopefully, we can get our families here,’ he said.

  ‘Aren’t you suspicious? Is it not too good to be true?’ Seamus said.

  ‘Honestly, I don’t know, but for now, I’m going to go next door and sleep, we can stress tomorrow.’

  ‘I’m with George, see ya’s in the morning,’ Connor said, stepping out through the door.

  ‘You could be right, but I’m too tired to care tonight Seamus, get some sleep and I’ll see you in the morning.’

  George can’t believe his luck as he opens the door to the single-story terraced house, it’s fully fur
nished, there’s a woodburning stove that somebody has lit before he arrived. Looking around, he finds a pile of keys on the kitchen table; he tries them all until he can lock the front door. Switching the kettle on, he makes himself a cup of coffee, wishing he could call Sarah; the radios are still on the boat. Turning on the TV, he can’t understand what’s being said but it’s a welcome noise and feels normal after the last three years of living in the bunker. Sitting on the sofa he suddenly feels overly emotional and can’t stop the tears from spilling forth like a burst damn, his chest jerks up and down as he fights to control the sobs. As the sobbing subsides, he wipes his face before finishing his coffee. Walking around the rest of the house, George is pleasantly surprised, he likes the house, there’s a lot of wood, the floor, the kitchen and furniture are all wood. The living room and kitchen are open plan, it’s not what he would choose, but it’s clean and the kitchen is more modern than the one in his own house. Walking through the kitchen he finds a hall and on the left there’s a shower room, and further down the hall on the right a large bedroom with a double bed in it. Stepping into the room he opens the wardrobe which is full of men’s clothing. Lifting a checked shirt and a pair of corduroy trousers, he lays them on the bed. He pulls open a drawer and finds pyjamas, opening another drawer he finds socks and pants and lifts a pair of each out setting them with the rest of the clothing on the bed. Leaving the clothing on the bed, he walks down the rest of the hall, opening a door at the end to find a pink room, the walls covered with posters, some band he’s never heard off. Stepping into the room he opens the wardrobe and finds clothes he’s certain will fit Sarah. He’s thinking when Sarah comes, she should leave all her clothing bar what’s she’s wearing, it’ll reduce contamination. George walks through the house and out the back door where he finds a small open garden, there’s no fence around the edge but there’s a small shed with a lock on it. Stepping back inside he lifts the keys, trying them all until the shed opens. He pulls out a spade and begins digging a hole, making sure the hole is deep and bangs on Connors door before heading to Seamus’s door.

  ‘What’s up George?’ Connor calls from his doorstep.

  ‘We need to bury the clothes we’re wearing; I don’t want to risk any contamination.’

  ‘Yeah no worries, I’ll go find something else to wear.’

  The men seal their clothes in plastic bags and place them in the large hole and bury them. When they’re done George places a large concrete slab on top of the soil.

  ‘We’ll need to get it concreted properly, but for now this will do,’ he told the others before heading back inside to get showered and dressed into the clothes he’d picked.

  George doesn’t remember falling asleep, but the TV is on when he wakes, it looks like some kind of Icelandic breakfast show. He has slept well and feels ready to face whatever the day brings. Watching the TV, he realises that he will need to learn the language even if all the locals they have spoken to, seem to speak English fairly well. Yesterday he was too relieved to have made it, to feel anything but gratitude, but this morning he considers Seamus’s concerns and wonders how worried they need to be? Checking his watch, he’s certain, it must be broken; it said, it’s almost 8am. George hasn’t slept that late since before the accident, looking around the walls there are several clocks that show it's almost 7am.

  ‘That seems more likely,’ he thought, before remembering that Iceland is an hour behind the UK.

  Getting up, George stretches before filling the kettle using water from the tap, even though he’s cautious, it’s been a long time since it was okay to do that. Opening the cupboards, he finds jars of pickled vegetables, ignoring them he pulls out dried pasta. After eating, and showering George heads next door to Connors.

  ‘Morning George, how’d you sleep?’ Connor asks when he opens the door.

  ‘Really good, the best in a long time, what about you?’

  ‘Same.’

  ‘You ready?’

  ‘Yep,’ Connor said, pulling the door behind him.

  George bangs on Seamus’s door, they hear him call from inside,

  ‘Come in.’

  Stepping through the door they find him lying on the sofa, drinking coffee, watching the breakfast show.

  ‘Comfy, are we?’ George asks, smiling.

  ‘This is the comfiest I’ve been since this shit fest happened,’ Seamus said, grinning.

  The men sit on the other chairs waiting for Seamus. ‘I suppose we’re to make our way to the mayor’s office this morning?’ Connor said.

  ‘Yeah, when Seamus is ready, we’ll head,’ George said, holding up the car keys.

  Half an hour later the men arrive at the mayor’s office. It’s a tall modern building with large windows and a tall white door. The receptionist greets them as they enter, she’s surrounded by several large cheese plants.

  ‘We’re here to see the mayor,’ George tells her.

  ‘I know who you are, follow me, he’s waiting for you.’

  The mayor’s office is large with views over the docks on one side and the town on the other.

  ‘Good morning gentlemen, I hope you all had a good night?’ Magnus asks as they enter.

  ‘Yes, thank you,’ George replies as the others nod their agreement.

  ‘I’ll get straight to business; you are going to need an icebreaker to get you home and bring your families here. Am I correct?’

  ‘Yes, or even a lift through the ice and we can do the rest,’ George said, not wanting to owe this man too much.

  ‘Don’t be daft, it will be quicker, it can be done in one trip how many boats do you have?’

  ‘Not enough, it would take many journeys,’ Seamus said. ‘None of our boats would make it across the Atlantic George. We should take the mayor up on his offer.’

  ‘Okay, but you need to make sure the men are adequately protected, Ireland is contaminated,’ George said.

  ‘We have protective gear, in case the radiation reaches us,’ Magnus said. ‘Now follow me down to the docks.’

  Arriving at the docks, the icebreaker is being prepped ready for the journey. In less than an hour they are boarded and setting off through the ice toward home. The ice breaker pushes through the large solid ice burgs like its butter. Out in the open ocean the waves barely cause the ship to rock.

  ‘Some difference to our trip over,’ Seamus said.

  ‘Fuck, that was rough, at one point I didn’t think we were going to make it,’ Connor said.

  ‘Always have faith men’ George said, smiling.

  ‘Is it really going to be this easy? We’re getting our families and moving to Iceland no questions asked?’ Seamus said his eyes scanning the ship’s crew.

  ‘The way I look at it, is we don’t have many other options, I don’t know about you, but it was nice to have one night of not worrying about the water, the food or what direction the wind was blowing,’ George said. ‘But I know what you mean, I’m waiting for the bomb to drop as well.’

  ‘We’ll be more vulnerable when our families arrive,’ Connor said, ‘But it’ll be awesome to let Toby out and not worry about where he’s going.’

  ‘Where have you been keeping him?’ George asks concerned that the dog is more than likely contaminated.

  ‘He’s still in the bunker, everyone’s left now so we have the run of the place, but he hasn’t been outside since this happened.’

  ‘Do you have a dog box to put him in? Because you don’t want to risk him being contaminated when he leaves the bunker,’ George asks impressed that Conner kept the dog inside.

  ‘Yeah, but he’s an Irish wolfhound, I’ll need to put the box on the back of the pickup, back it to the entrance and hope Toby doesn’t go mad at the sight of the outdoors’ Connor said.

  ‘We’ll not let that happen,’ Seamus said.

  The journey only takes four hours and as they near the coast the crew tell them there’s not enough depth to go any closer, that they will have to use the lifeboats to disembark.

/>   ‘I’ll use my boat; how long do we have before you want to leave?’ George asks.

  ‘No longer than three hours, we want to get back before dark.’

  Using a pully system, George lowers himself down onto his boat, he can’t believe they’re back so soon and hopes Sarah is willing to leave. The boat starts first attempt like always, he steers it around the icebreaker towards Blackcliff Island. A fluttering of excitement fills his core as he reaches the jetty and parks up, securing the boat to the wooden post.

  ‘Sarah!’ he calls as he enters the house. Adrenalin floods his system as he scans the room. It looks like Sarah must have been sleeping in here, but why and where is she? The toilet flushes seconds before Sarah steps into the room.

  ‘George!’ she exclaims.

  ‘Why are you sleeping in here?’ he asks, unnerved at how unwell she looks.

  ‘I can’t stop being sick George, it started again shortly after you left,’

  ‘Do you think it’s the radiation?’

  ‘I don’t know?’

  ‘Well, we can go to Iceland, it’s safe there, Iceland hasn’t been affected by the radiation.’

  ‘Are you serious? George that’s amazing.’

  ‘The icebreaker is waiting for us, we’ve got a couple of hours to get our stuff and go, don’t bring clothing there’s plenty there.’

  ‘Okay, what should I bring?’

  ‘Personal stuff, photos, stuff like that, I’ll get the rest of our ration packs and medication. Just in case.’

  ‘Is it really safe there?’

  ‘For now it is, but we just don’t know what will happen?’

  Chapter 10.

  Four months later.

  George, Sarah and the community from Ireland have spent the last four months rebuilding their lives in Borg, Iceland. George recently finished the last round of intense treatment for the mutated cells in his lungs. Shortly after they arrived Magnus gave them all jobs, Seamus and Connor are machine operators, and George an engineer at the hydropower plant. Sarah is a general nurse at the local hospital.